Tis the Season
by IceAmethyst
Summary: LJ Christmas fluff. The 7th years are doing a Secret Santa and Lily gets paired with... well, read to find out!
1. Default Chapter

_A/N; _**EnglishBrat must burn in eternal Hell. She got me into the Christmas mess! * points finger * I'm now bound by my words to write a Christmas fic. I haven't decided what couple to put in yet… * thinks * wait, yes I have! **

**And to Cat: JAMES THE SEX GOD! * drools * **

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It all started one winter's night when Lily Evans and her roommates were discussing Christmas issues. It was tradition by then to get each other gifts, but it wasn't that big of a deal. 

"I've got the perfect idea!" Allison Turley, a short pixie-like girl with short strawberry blonde hair volunteered, smacking her chewing gum.

"Let's hear it." Arabella Figg, one of Lily's best friends said sternly, poising her quill over a piece of parchment. She brushed her black silky, straight hair out of her face. 

"Ok, Muggle children have something called a Secret Santa that they do a lot." She said with much enthusiasm. The girls in the dorm exchanged looks, but again turned their full attention to Allison so she could finish the tale.

"Anyway, what you do is draw boys and girls names out of a hat that we want to have participate and that's the person that you give a present to. But here's the catch, you can't tell the person you're giving the gift to! On Christmas Eve, you give the present to your Secret Santa!" She finished, and sat expectantly on the edge of her bed.

"That's a really cool idea, Allie!" Bethany Jones, another blonde, said excitedly. All the other girls broke into smiles and giggles, and started talking about who they wanted their Secret Santa to be.

Lily Evans looked excitedly at Arabella, who was furiously writing the information Allison had given them.

"I personally think that James Potter, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin should be involved!" 

People turned around to see who the speaker was. It was Samantha Rowland, the 7th year Ice Queen and Miss Popularity, next to Lily and Arabella, of course. Her perfectly groomed dark brown hair was pulled into a flawless French Twist on the top of her regal head. Her immaculately manicured nails rested slightly on the armrests of a chair by her bed, her knees tucked under her. Her silky, slinky pale pink nightgown glinted in the lamplight of the dorm. 

Among them, giggles rose, if not more high-pitched than usual. James Potter, head of the Marauders (the most infamous prankster group of it's time) was no short of a Sex God. He had untamable black hair, mischievous brown eyes, a smile that would melt chocolate and did melt girls' hearts, popularity that would rival the Queen of England's, perfect marks in all of his subjects, he was Head Boy, a spot on the Quidditch team and Samantha as a girlfriend.

Lily hated him with every living fiber in her body. She, opposed to every other female in the school besides Arabella, thought he was arrogant, stupid, nosy, ugly and talent less, to name a few of his 'imperfections.'

It wasn't like Lily and James were friends. It was actually the opposite. Lily and James had gotten off to a bumpy start in their first year after Lily had 'accidentally' spilled pumpkin juice down his back and dyed his hair orange. 'Pumpkin Boy' had been his nickname since then. He soon got back at her by putting spiders in her bed and writing in temporary 24-hour silver ink 'I've Slept With All The 5st Year Slytherin Boys' on her back.

"Don't mean to object, Miss Rowland, but must we include them?"  Lily said, trying to keep the sarcasm in her voice at a minimum.

Samantha smirked slightly. "If you look around the room, I think you'll find your answer." 

Lily grimaced. She hated Samantha's tone whenever she talked to Lily; it was like icicles. 

The entire roomful of girl's faces showed absolute adoration for the three beloved Marauders. Arabella, who'd been watching in her own unique silence, was the only one who looked as though having James, as a Secret Santa would meet certain doom.

Lily groaned. "As long as I'm not James' partner, I'm fine with it." 

"I'm sure, Lily, that if you do not wish to be James' Secret Santa, one girl would be willing to give all the gold in Gringotts to be instead." Samantha said as smooth as her nightgown. Lily felt like strangling something, preferably the Ice Queen sitting mere inches from her. 

"Well, it's unanimous then?" Arabella said cheerfully.

"AYE!" 

Lily groaned. If Fate played her cards right, Lily would most definitely wind up with James as her Secret Santa.

"OK, this meeting is temporarily derailed while I write up everyone's name that's in 7th year." Arabella said, waving them all away.

Lily yawned and climbed out of bed with the other girls to go down to the Common Room. It was an impulse to either run away or stay and insult when she saw the Marauders in the Common Room, flirting shamelessly with some fifth year girls.

Lily sauntered over, resting her elbows on the headrest of one of the chairs that Sirius Black occupied.

"Boo!" She screeched in her annoying voice she saved for them.

"Fireball!" Sirius said, using James less-than-favorable nickname for her and turning around. Even if Lily hated James with a passion, she did like Sirius for his crazy sense of humor, and Remus for his sensitivity. 

"Hey, where's James? I want to see who he's hitting on." Lily said, her eyes roving around the room. She found him trying to catch a giggling brunette. She rolled her eyes and called to James "Hey, four-eyes! Can't you do any better?" 

The childish chase around a chair immediately stopped. James sighed loudly. "Can't you find something better to do than to nose into my personal business?"

Lily smirked and waved to the rest of the common room. "Me and everyone else here!"

The brunette glared at James. He smiled back apologetically. She made a little 'hmph' noise in her throat and stalked out of the common room.

"Way to go Evans, ruin my chances with her." James muttered. 

"What chances have you got to go out with a fourth year?" Lily asked incredulously.

"Plenty. Her brother's the Keeper on the Ravenclaw team." James sniffed.

 Lily rolled her eyes. "Well, anyway. I just came down to grace you with my heavenly presence to tell you that us 7th year girls are having what's called a Secret Santa. It's where you anonymously give a present to your 'partner' on Christmas Eve."

"And… that's valid how?" James asked, looking at her like she was from Mars.

"Just warning you, if I get stuck with you as a Secret Santa, I'm sending you dragon dung!" She said threateningly, jabbing her finger in his direction as she sailed up the stairs to see if Arabella was done yet.

"We can always use it to throw at her." Sirius suggested. James scowled.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

Christmas fluff? Not yet. Fishy situation? You bet! Fluffy yet? Er… no. =)__


	2. Chapter TWO

_A/n; _**Sorry for the lateness! It's no longer really a Christmas-time fiction! It's an… um… belated Christmas fic! * grins * Anyway, enjoy yourselves on this lovely Christmas day! **

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"Aren't you _pleased _with the way Secret Santa turned out, Lily?" Arabella asked, whistling as they shoved through crowds in Hogsmeade.

Lily kicked some snow off the sidewalk in anger. How could Arabella be _happy _about all of this? 

Late last night, after almost three hours of writing every single solitary person's name in the 7th year on little pieces of parchment, they had the drawing. Lily, of course, had been stuck with James and Arabella paired with Sirius.  

And now Lily was strolling around with an ecstatic Arabella in the student-clad streets of Hogsmeade. 

"Try to look on the bright side: every girl is jealous of you! And _of course _I'm helping you pick out the gift, because knowing you you'll get him some rainbow suspenders." Arabella said matter-of-factly.

"It's better than anything, because that's probably all he'll ever get from Lily Evans." Lily said, still steaming about how unfair her life was.

"Lighten up, would you Lily? It's the day before Christmas, the least you can do is be happy!" 

"I don't want to be happy! I've got _James _to go shopping for!" Lily shouted earning several uneasy looks from 5th year girls. Lily stared back at them, sticking out her tongue.

"Was that necessary?" Arabella said with a disapproving glance at Lily as they entered a store entitled _Odds and Ends_. 

"What _is _this store? Prank central?" Lily asked, as a magic candle kept going out and then lighting itself up again.

"It's an odds and ends place! It's probably full of junk that people don't need but buy it anyway!" Arabella snapped.

Lily yelped as a jack-in-the-box sprang out at her, yelling Merry Christmas in tongue. 

"Arabella, I don't want to be here." Lily said, eyeing a mysterious-looking purple flower oozing pink goop.

"Lily, I'm not leaving here until you've got a present for James in your hands, so get shopping!" Arabella said firmly, pushing Lily into the heart of the store.

"What does James like?" Lily called back to Arabella. She pretended not to hear Lily and went along looking at various items.

Lily sighed loudly. "I'm on my own with him, aren't I?" 

Arabella grinned. 

Lily sauntered over to a section she assumed was for the young gentleman's. Thought she had doubts about shopping there, because James was most certainly not a gentleman.

"Excuse me!" Lily said quietly when she spotted a salesman. A tall, spectacled man came running over. 

"Can I help you?" He asked, huffing and puffing.

"Yeah, I'm erg… looking for a present for a friend." Lily sounded strained by calling James a friend.

"A gentleman, I take it?" He asked, a glint in his eye. Lily wondered if he thought James was her boyfriend.

"Well, I'm only buying him a present because I have to." Lily explained shortly, annoyed with the salesman's attitude.

"Of course, Miss. Well, follow me! We've got everything imaginable!" He cried gaily.

 He led her over to a row of strange-looking orbs. "These orbs are perfect for the silent, poetic boys. They're filled with different adjectives and all you have to do is say a word that you want to describe more in detail!" 

Lily glanced at a blue and white checkered one with words like 'blasphemy' and 'acerbically' floating around. She thought they looked really stunning and unique, but stopped her from purchasing one because she knew James wasn't the poetic type. Unless it came to burping the ABC's or something repulsive like that.

"I take it from the lady's look that they aren't going to suit the young lad?" The salesman inquired.

Lily shook her head, and he quickly whisked her off to a shelf full of stained books. "These would be perfect for the straight-A potions student, perfect if you plan on replacing the Potion's Master!" 

Lily turned her head sideways to read one of the titles, 'Ways To Transfigure Your Enemy's Guts Inside Out' by Yolanda Yackstein. She couldn't buy something like that! James would definitely find some interesting ways to use his book.

"Tricky customer, is he? Well, don't worry. Old Newt's never had a customer come out of this shop empty-handed!" He said jovially.

_I wish he'd let me get out of the store empty-handed. Or at least with his head on a nice, enchanted silver platter. _Lily thought menacingly.

"Here, this may tempt you to buy." He said. Scattered out were different sorts of quills and inkwells in many different forms. Creatively, some inkwells were shaped as witches' hats or an owl. The quills were extravagant and flourishing with peacock feathers, phoenix feathers or just about anything you could imagine. One thing in particular that caught Lily's eye was a Golden Snitch-shaped inkwell and a quill that had three red curly feathers creatively arranged.

"I'll buy those two…" Lily said and picked the items up, taking care so she didn't drop them. 

"EXCELLENT CHOICE!" He bellowed and dragged her past Arabella who beamed at her.

**A Few Moments Later: **

"James is seriously going to love that! He now can flick ink out of a _Golden Snitch _inkwell!" Arabella positively gushed.

Lily couldn't help but grin. She'd actually gotten a _boy _a practical and at the same time, cool gift.

"Ok, it's almost 4. We should get back for the little exchanging gifts party." Arabella said, switching into serious mode as fast as she flips her hair. 

When they returned to the castle, Arabella ushered Lily into the girl's dorm and shoved her into the joint closet that all the girls shared.

"Quick, find something that isn't distasteful or already in use! I have to do your hair!" Arabella said fretfully, and pulled on a skirt. 

"Why the rush?" Lily asked impatiently as she grabbed from a hanger a charcoal-gray pencil-line skirt and a navy blue tank top. 

"Because we're late as it is! As you can see, the pink nylon open-necked dress is gone." Arabella remarked dryly. The dress she was talking about was the slut dress that everyone always wanted to wear to parties, and it was usually a fight to get it.

"Ew! Watch Hallie Burhman get it!" Lily said, wrinkling her nose as Arabella pulled on a pale yellow miniskirt with matching cardigan and white sling backs. She muttered something and pointing her wand at her hair, it made a simple French twist. Arabella ran over to Lily, who was trying to pull her disheveled hair into a messy bun. Arabella waved her wand over Lily's hair that suddenly fell into tiny ringlets. 

"How in the _world _did you do that?" Lily asked incredulously, picking at a strand of fiery red hair.

Arabella shrugged. "You learn these things around four other giggly girls."

Lily shrugged. Whatever worked.

"Ok, remember. We're _fashionably late _so just kind of go along with it. Don't forget to sway your hips." Arabella instructed. Lily looked repulsed as she grabbed her present for James off of her bed.

Downstairs, what Lily expected to see was a quiet, peaceful party but instead was a wild, noisy and terribly out of hand festivity! 

"What happened to the nice, quiet activity planned?" Lily shouted over the din. 

Arabella tried to say something but words failed her so she just shrugged and motioned for her to follow her. Arabella lead her to an unused spot in the common room where James and Sirius were sitting.

Lily bit back a cry of frustration. Was she supposed to give him his present in front of everyone?

"James, Lily has something to give you!" Arabella shouted over the blaring music that seemed to have come out of nowhere. Lily shot Arabella a nasty look. 

"WHAT?" He yelled, getting up from his chair and walking towards Arabella. She leaned over and whispered something in his ear. He suddenly understood and wordlessly, he walked through the crowd to the Gryffindor Balcony. Lily, grumbling slightly about having to go through the dancing crowd again, followed him.

A light breeze floated around her, playing with her hair. It was silent outside except for the crickets chirping.

"It's silent out here." Lily said generally. 

"So it is." James replied, leaning against the rail of the balcony.

"Um… I guess Arabella told you…" Lily said, thrusting the parcel suddenly into his hands. His eyebrows shot up slightly. 

"Told me what? _You're _my Secret Santa?" He asked incredulously.

Lily nodded miserably. "Don't you just hate it when stuff like this happens?"

James was too preoccupied opening up the complex wrappings to answer. He finally opened up the package. 

"Lily… did you get this? I mean this is…really nice. Considering it's from my enemy, anyway. Are you sure Arabella didn't pick this out?" He asked, examining the inkwell.

"No. I did it all by myself." Lily said shortly. Her fingers were itching as though they wanted to curl themselves around the doorknob so she could get away.

"This may come as a complete shock but I was also _your _Secret Santa. Talk about coincidence, right?" He asked, running a hand through his raven-black hair.

Lily's eyes could've dropped out of her head. "No way!" 

"They set us up, isn't it obvious?" James said.

"Duh Potter," Lily said, rolling her eyes. "So you got a present for me or what?"

James looked uncomfortable. "See the thing is…" He broke off and instantly wrapped her in his arms and kissed her soundly. Lily had never been kissed before in her life, and she was taken by absolute surprise that she couldn't pull away. His kiss was so sincere and innocent that she found herself loosing feeling in her legs. Girls had always come back to the dorm from dates with him, claiming his kisses would skyrocket you to the moon. They weren't kidding. She suddenly found enough strength to push him away, her cheeks flushed and both of them panting.

"What-what-what was _that?_" Lily spluttered, straightening her shirt. 

"It was an absolute impulse, I swear. I didn't mean to do that… I'm so sorry…" He said, staring at the ground.

"Was _that _my present or something?" Lily asked, cringing at the thought.

"It could be, since I didn't get you one." He said, grinning. 

Lily couldn't believe what she said next. "Well… um… two kisses wouldn't do you or me any harm, would it?"

He grinned and their lips met for a second time, lacking the initial shyness of the first one. 

"Merry Christmas, Lily Evans." He said. 

"Merry Christmas, James Potter." She replied.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

_a/n; _**Geez, was the fluffy or WHAT? **


End file.
